diff --git a/src/fileio.c b/src/fileio.c
index cc1399e1bd..f538f12f9b 100644
--- a/src/fileio.c
+++ b/src/fileio.c
@@ -3047,7 +3047,7 @@ support.  */)
   if (STRINGP (acl_string))
     {
       acl = acl_from_text (SSDATA (acl_string));
-      if (acl == NULL)
+      if (acl == NULL && acl_errno_valid (errno))
 	{
 	  report_file_error ("Converting ACL", absname);
 	  return Qnil;